Pilot Review: Stalker

Stalker is a new TV series starring Maggie Q of Divergent and Dylan McDermott of American Horror Story. Investigating (you guessed it) stalking incidents in LA, the series follows a traditional crime show format, though with more victims per episode.

First Impressions

I don’t know… this show doesn’t seem like anything I want to watch. I can’t really articulate why. Is it the cases themselves? Our main character not being likable? I think it’s probably the actual possibility of these scenarios. Sure, I like to imagine that I won’t be brutally tortured to death, but stalking can be like long-term torture. It’s going to be a creepy show.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQUHezf0Kqs]

I found a main plot!

(Teeny spoiler coming up, but it’s in the first 5 minutes so you’ll survive.)

It wasn’t until one of the over-arching story-lines revealed itself that I realized… I thought this show might be boring (I’m watching the first season of Homeland right now and it’s SO boring). You know, there’s that delicate balance between making each episode driven, while also having a season-long story to progress. Well, I just thought these episodes were going to be really slow and isolated.

Actually, the pilot had four victims and… the new detective is also a stalker!! Talk about typecasting – this actor is just creepy.

We’ll just have to hope these characters become more likable, eh?

First off, I didn’t learn any of their names during the entire episode.

About the main guy: he’s another new Lie To Me/Mentalist/Sherlock type. He can tell a lot by observing his surroundings, and of course he’s arrogant because he’s usually right. While he’s at it, why not be a jerk? He does grow on me though, and if they keep him observant, but not rude (as he is later in the episode) I think I could be very sympathetic to him.

And our main girl? She’s clearly been a victim of stalking herself, but other than that we don’t know too much about her. In the end (as seen in the trailer) she goes off and intimidates a college kid/stalker. I get it, we’re trying to be all cool as we slowly reveal more about her. But still, I just didn’t care.

Add a new thriller to your list

What we’ve got is a fast-paced show with some good cross-episode story-lines to delve in to. And enough surprises to keep you happy! For a show I was really reluctant to watch, it actually fit my favorite type of show better than I would have expected. And it’s got a great thrill factor to it, being creepy enough without making me miserably scared (I’m a big chicken).

P.S.

Throwback to our A to Z review… at the end of the episode, our main character says (referring to her back-story), “Be patient. I don’t put it out there in the first five minutes. That’d be creepy.” OK guys, I think this woman should talk to Andrew from A to Z! He’s totally weird and just puts too much pressure on the moment.